Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Colombia Dispatch: Horsing around

Original it is not. I still remember the 2000 ¨CowParade¨ charity event which brought a herd of fiberglass cows - each painted by a different artist - to the streets of New York.

Calling themselves "the world´s largest public art event," the organizers have since set up similar outdoor exhibits throughout the world, auctioning different cows at the end of each exhibit as a fundraiser for different local charities in the host cities.

Enter Equus Arte in Bogota. Walking around the 93rd Street Park in Bogota over the weekend, the hubby and I ran upon several fiberglass horses that had been set up onthe periphery, each with a different design and look, some of them sorta `blah´but some actually quite stunning (the exhibit actually runs through September at various public sites throughout the city and features 74 different horses).

The event, set up by Fundacion Corazon Verde (Green Heart Foundation), seeks to raise money "to improve the quality of life of the widows and orphans of Colombian policemen."

On Thursday, El Tiempoprofiled some of the artists, including Maria de la Paz Jaramillo who did "Azul," the blue horse below (next to the hubby). Sorry to say I didn´t take note of the other artists´ names.

Still, in the photo above you can also see how one of the artists took the opportunity to pose the question "Do kidnapped gays have the right to liberty?"

This is an allusion to the outpouring of emotion that erupted earlier this month through the streets of Bogota in reaction to the death of 11 politicians that were being held by the left-wing FARC guerrillas, who had kidnapped them a few months ago.

Tragically, the guerrilla still hold dozens of kidnapped individuals, some whom have been held for a decade or longer, some whom have a lower public profile than the various political leaders that still remain in their hands (including cause celebre Ingrid Betacourt) and some whom were kidnapped when they were very young. Among them a number of small town policemen who, in this country, usually come from the poorest regions and neighborhoods in the country.

The organizers have said that some of the funds raised throug Equus Arte will also go towards helping the families of those kidnapped policemen.